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The observance of a "Carnival" (aka
Mardi Gras New Orleans) before the Lenten period (a Christian symbolic penitence from
Ash Wednesday to Easter) is not new. It originated in the middle of the
second century in Rome when the Fast of the 40 days of Lent was preceded
by a feast of several days during which time participants delivered
themselves up to voluntary madness, put on masks, clothed themselves like
specters, gave themselves up to Bacchus and Venus and considered all
pleasure allowable.
The name carnival is derived from the Latin
Caro, Carnis, flesh, and vale, farewell (according to Ducange, from the
Latin denomination of the feasts of the Middle Ages, carnis levamen,
solace of the flesh), because at that time people took leave of flesh. The
carnival of the modern world is nothing more or less than the Saturnalia
of the Christian Romans who could not forget their pagan festivals. From
Rome, the celebration spread to other European countries and finally to
America. Carnival is still observed in many American cities but certainly
not with the glamour and grandeur that is attendant to the New Orleans
carnival which had its birth in 1827, when a group of students, recently
returned from school in Paris, donned strange costumes and danced their
way through the streets. The students got the idea for their Mardi Gras
revelry from the celebrations they had experienced in Paris.
New Orleanians caught the enthusiasm of the youths and from 1827 to 1833.
Mardi Gras
each year saw more and more revelries, culminating in an annual
Mardi Gras
ball. In 1833 Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville, a rich
plantation owner, solicited large amount to help finance an organized
Mardi Gras celebration. It was not until 1837 however, that the first
Mardi Gras parade was staged. The first description of a Mardi Gras parade
is of a single float in 1839 which was a crude thing, but a great success.
It is reported that the float moved through the streets while the crowd
roared hilariously. Since then Mardi Gras in New Orleans has been a
definite success. It continued to grow, with additional organizations
participating each year until the Carnival as we know it today was the
result.
There is no celebration in the world which is as much misconstrued as the
New Orleans
Mardi Gras. Laboring under a misconception, the vast majority
of people outside of New Orleans believe that the New Orleans
Mardi Gras
is a celebration spreading over a period of a few days just before Ash
Wednesday. In reality the New Orleans carnival is similar to the Fasching
of Germany which begins on the twelfth night after Christmas and continues
until Shrove Tuesday. The expression Mardi Gras is from the French,
meaning Fat Tuesday."
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